Split header for open top truck-trailers and the like



A. AMBL] April 10, 1956 SPLIT HEADER FOR OPEN TOP TRUCK-TRAILERS AND THELIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 17, 1952 A. AMBLI April 10, 1956 SPLITHEADER FOR OPEN TOP TRUCK-TRAILERS AND THE LIKE Filed July 17, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent SPLIT HEADER FOR QPEN TGPTRUCK-TRAZLERES AND TEE LlKE This invention relates to open toppedcarriers such as large truck-trailers, semi-trailers and cars where thevehicle is loaded through the rear and open top and where a heavy,rigid, transverse header is required to interconnect the upper ends ofthe rear posts of the ,sides to reinforce the load carrying structureand to complete and form a suitable rigid frame for the support,mounting and locking of the rear doors of the carrier.

In present open trailer or analogous carrier structure, a heavy,integral header bar is provided, connected to the upper ends of the rearposts by hinge-dowel pins which are exceedingly diflicult to replace andreconnect after heavy loading of the carrier or car with the attendantusual spreading apart of the somewhat flexible side walls of thetrailer. oftentimes with the present conventional headers several hoursare required on the part of a crew of two or three men to force theupper ends of the door posts together and properly align the headerhinges or ends for connecting the dowel pins and securing the header toproper operative position, interconnecting the upper ends of the posts.

It might be further explained that for fast loading of open top trailersand the like, it is usually necessary or desirable to release and removethe header to leave the rear top of the vehicle frame unobstructed.

It is an object of my invention to provide a split but highly rigidheader structure for open top carriers which may be readily replaced orrepositioned with tensioning eifect upon the rear posts of the carrierframe and the replacement and operative positioning of which may be veryeasily and quickly accomplished by a sole operator, after the trailerhas been loaded and even though the sides have sprung outwardly duringloading.

A further object is the provision of a very rigid, durable, spht headerof the class described wherein alignment of the interconnecting ends,locking of said ends and production of a ri id, interconnectingstructure is instantly accomplished by draw-lever-action of anover-dead-center locking device, working in cooperation with positiveinterlocking elements provided at the inner ends of my header sections.

Another object is the provision of a comparatively inexpensive buthighly efiicient header which may be readily attached to or disconnectedfrom the rear posts of various open type trailers and carrierscomprising a pair of interlocked and reinforced sections which forloading, may be readily swung into compact position against'the uppersides of the vehicle frame or body.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fullyappear from the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similarparts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of an open top trailer em- 7 bodying myimproved header structure in rigid, locked, operative position and withthe rear doors closed and one 2 thereof broken away at its upper portionto show the structure behind the same;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the same with the dotted linesindicating the positioning of the header sections and pull-lever lockprior to rigidly securing and locking the sections;

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail view on a larger scale showing the pull lock insecured position with the upper web of the header channel sectionsremoved; and

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the sections in position to be broughtinto alignment and locked rigidly in operative position by swinging ofthe pull lever.

As shown in the drawings, myheader is embodied in the rear body or frameof a conventional open top truck trailer having the usual upstandingposts P at the rear of the load body or frame to which the usual sideslats S are secured as well as the usual top beams B.

In conventional manner, a pair of rectangular, swingable doors D arehinged on pivots or dowels X to suitable hinge brackets H afiixed toupper and lower portions of the rear posts P, said doors havingelongated hinge arms A as shown which are rigidly welded or otherwiseconnected to the appropriate rear sides of the doors and terminate attheir outer ends in hinge eyes or the like for receiving the dowel pinsX. The doors .in usual manner are adapted to interfit the rear frame ofthe carrier body defined by the inner longitudinal edges of the posts 1and the inner edge of a header structure, .the doors havingsubstantially registering or if desired, overlapping edge relation withsuitable lock or fastening devices F for locking the doors in closedposition.

The fastening devices F are of conventional stucture and therefore,detailed description is thought unnecessary, it being significanthowever, that one of the containers or keepers for the locking rod L issupplied by one of the sections of my header structure, as showncomprising a rigid segmental bracket Z afiixed to the forward verticalface of the longer header section and having a rod-accommodating slot 6formed therein'in communication with a rod-receiving socket.

Myheader comprises a pair of heavy, rigid bar sections indicated asentireties by the numerals 7 and 8,'said sections being purposely forthe advantages hereinafter enu' merated, of unequal length and as shown,constructed in the form of relatively Wide, shallow construction steelchannels with the wide connection web of the channels being preferablydisposed vertically and at the rear face of the structure. Both of thesections 7 and 3 preferably at their outer, post-connection ends havemeans such as the rear, reinforcement plates 7a and 811 respectively forfacilitating preferably hinge connection with the upper ends of posts Por rear post portions of the side wails of the trailer body. The outerend of header section 7 is preferably closed and further reinforced byan end plate 7b while the corresponding end of the shorter headersection is similarly closed and further reinforced by an end plate 8b(see Fig. l). The outer ends of header sections 7 and 8 are preferablybut not necessarily removably and hingedly connected with the upper endsof posts P through the medium of suitable hinge structures ,9 and 19respectively. As shown, saidhinge'structures comprise heavy rib hingestraps liia and 9a respectively, welded or otherwise rigidly connectedto the rear reinforcing plates 7a and 3a and having pintle-receivingeyes aligned for reception of heavy, removable hinge pintles 11 whichinterconnect the ribbed post-hinge straps 9b and 16b for the twosections. The straps 9b and 14912 are welded or otherwise rigidlyattached to triangular post reinforcements T (see 0 Fig. 2'; which maybe welded to the top portions of posts P and the interconnectingportions of the sidewalls of the trailer body. With such hingeconnections 9 and 10, it

will readily be seen that in loading, the header sections 7 and 8 may beswung rearwardly and inwardly into collapsed position against the sidewalls of the trailer body.

The rigid channel sections 7 and 8 at their inner ends are provided asshown, with cooperating end abutment plates 70 and 80 respectively, saidplates covering the extremities. ofthe channel members and being weldedor otherwise rigidly affixed thereto. One of said abutment plates asshown, plate 70 of the longer header section,-rigidly carries a pair ofprojecting locking pins 7a which project longitudinally from the innerend and are adapted to be accommodated and interlocked'in enlargedpin-receiving recesses 8d (see Figs. 3 and 4) of the cooperating Vabutment plate 8c. a

I provide a readily operable and efiicient mechanism between the innerends of the header sections for draw ing or pulling said ends togetherwhile simultaneously aligning and locking the two sections into a veryrigid, substantially integral structure. This mechanism as shown,includes a draw hook 12 having an elongated shank which is swingablyconnected between the legs of an over-dead-center draw lever13 ofelongated U-shaped .a portion 12b of the shank of draw hook 12 isexteriorly threaded to receive an adjustment nut 15 and a cooperatinglock nut 15a and said threaded portion of the shank is slidably receivedin a bore or accommodating passage 1651 drilled transversely through aconnector block 16 which is interposed between the legs of the looped orU-shaped draw lever 13 at a point spaced a short distance outwardly ofthe pivotal bolt connection of draw lever 13 with spaced supportingplates 17 welded within the channel at the end portion of header section7. 'Fivoted connection of the draw lever 13 as shown, is made by'nuttedbolts 18 (see Figs. 3 and said bolts as shown, being disposedintermediately of the rear and front sides of channel member 7 andsulficiently rearward of the front face of said channel and headersection to position the pivotal mounting screws 16b for the connectorblock 16 inwardly of post 18 in an over-dead-center relation when thelever 13 is swung to closed, locked position. A heavy coil expansionspring'19 as shown, is interposed between the rear side of connectorblock 16 and a fixed abutment nut 120 secured near the extremity of theshank of hook 12. The horizontal, central portions of cooperatingabutment plates 70 and 8c are slotted at "is and 8e respectively, saidslots being of equal width to the space between the correspondingattachment plates 17 and respectively (see Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive), saidslots accommodating the outer portion of the shank of draw hook 12.

Operation In use, the header sections 7 and Sdisconnected by dis-'engaging the hook 12 from the retaining post 14 are usually swunginwardly and forwardly against the sides of the body for loading thetrailer. If desired to provide even additional room at the top of theside walls for receiving a full load, the header sections 7 and 8 may beentirely removed from the trailer by pulling the dowel pins 11 of thehinge connections 9 and 10. The body is then loaded usually fromdirectly above the trailer and in the course of fully loading the body,as is usual, the side walls often spread outwardly apart due to inherentflexibility of the connections thereof with the chassis.

, a When the body is fully loaded, the header sections 7 and 8 are againhingedly connected with posts P if they have been removed and are swungor otherwise positioned iu align and interengage the tapered lock pins7d with the g 4. substantial or near alignment with the abutment ends 7eand 8e, then being spaced a short distance apart. 7

With the draw lever 13 swung outwardly in the posi tion shown in Fig. 5,the hooked end' 12a of the draw hook is then engaged about post 14 andthe draw lever is then swung into its over-dead-center position againstthe rear face of the channel section 7, being then confined within thelongitudinal recess provided by that channel.

In this operation, it will be noted that a very powerful pull isimparted'between sections 7 and 8 to draw the abutment ends of saidsections together and to simultaneously enlarged pin-receiving apertures8d of the cooperating abutment plate 8c. Such alignment of locking pins,abutment of the inner ends of the header sections and pull is allsimultaneously effected by the swinging of draw lever 13 from open toclosed and locked position; In such.

swinging action, a limited resilient give or lost motion is effected bythe interposition of the heavy, short contractile spring interposedbetween the terminal of shank 12b and the connector block 16. The actionof the draw lever of course pulls the upper ends of the posts P andsides of the body together the requisite distance to provide for rigidinterlocking of the two header sections and the proper reinforcement ofthe trailer body at the rear completing the rigid rectangular frame forreceiving the hinged doors D. Doors D may then be swung to closed,interrelated position, as shown in Fig. 1 and the fastening devices Fsecured and tightened to lockthe trailer doors.

The section 8 is purposely constructed much shorter than the section 7to givethe doors rigidity at the vertical center of the'rear of thetrailer and to further enable a driver or operator from the: right handside of the trailer to readily reach in and swing the draw lever 13.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I' have provided asimple, highly efficient split header for open topped carriers which maybe readily disconnected or connected and by which the rear portions ofthe trailer walls may be appropriately drawn together with provision ofadequate power for securing the header in oper-,

ative-reinforcing and door-frame-forming position.

My structure may be readily installed and operated by the driver of thevehicle without requiring outside power .means for positioning theheader and drawing inthe rear posts of the body.

It will of course, be understood that various changes may be made in theform, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is: v

l. Header construction for the rear end of an opentop trailer or thelike of the type having side walls capaole of spreading during loading,said walls terminating at their rear ends in upstanding'post portions,said header construction comprising two cooperating, rigid headersections having cooperating inner abutment ends and provided with meansat their outer ends for connection with the upper ends of said postportions of said Walls, a locking pin projecting from the abutment endof one section, and the abutment end of the second section having apin-accommodating seat for receiving and interlocking end of saidsection and having connection with said hook at a point disposedoutwardly of its pivoted connection withsaid section. a v

3. Split header construction for the rear end of an open-top trailer orthe like of the type having side walls capable of spreading duringloading, said walls terminating at their rear ends in upstanding postportions, said header construction comprising two independent,coopcrating and longitudinally alignable, rigid header sections havingcooperating inner abutment ends, hinge mechanism at the outer end ofeach of said sections for swingably securing the respective sections tothe upper ends of said post portions, such hinge mechanisms havingvertical axes offset inwardly from the ends of said connected headersection and a lever-actuated take-up device interconnecting the innerends of two header sections and providing for limited inward relativeswinging of the inner heads of said header sections into oblique angleformations with the outer ends of said header sections then swunginwardly some distance away from said post portions, said take-upmechanism serving also to swing said header sections outwardly intohorizontally aligned, locked position with the inner ends in abutmentand thereby, through the offset connection of said sections with saidhinge mechanism, serving to put tension upon said two post portions withapplication of power in the manner of a toggle.

4. The structure set forth in claim 3 wherein the two sections of saidheader construction are of substantially difierent lengths, totalingwhen longitudinally abutted and aligned, the normal horizontal distancebetween said upstanding post portions, said sections being of forwardlyfacing channel construction and serving to house said mechanism fordetachably interlocking said inner end portions of said sections and forpulling said sections together.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS493,838 Potter Mar. 21, 1893 966,426 Carlson Aug. 9, 1910 1,972,346Iuline Sept. 4, 1934 2,371,497 Black Mar. 13, 1945 2,450,589 Falk et a1.Oct. 5, 1948 2,603,382 Kojan July 15, 1952 2,605,123 Claud-Mantle July29, 1952

